The Truth Isn't Always Easy
by BeltayneWitch
Summary: The war is over and the physical damage has been taken care of. Now it's time to deal with the invisible wounds left in the wake of battle. Hermione realizes, though, that the truth of the situation isn't what she hoped it would be.


Things weren't supposed to end like this. It was supposed to be a simple fix. Hermione knew that giving her parents back their memories would be tricky, maybe even incredibly complicated and almost impossible, but not this. She had tried twice to cast the spell that would reverse the Obliviate she had used on them almost two years ago, but it was all to no avail. Deep inside of her, she knew why it wasn't working, but her brain and her heart weren't connecting.

'_Look how happy they are,_' the voice in her mind sneered. '_Look how happy they seem without you._'

Hermione growled softly, causing the man at the table next to her to look up from his paper and glare at her. She attempted to look sheepish, but honestly she really didn't care if she had interrupted his reading. She had bigger problems to worry about. The sound of familiar laughter pulled her attention back to the couple sitting at the other end of the cafe terrace. They did seem rather happy. It had been ages since she had heard her mother laugh, and she hadn't realized how much she missed it until then. Her father smiled and chuckled at something her mother said as she placed a hand on his arm. They looked like the perfect couple, happy and in love without any responsibilities to tie them down, without **her** to tie them down.

Hermione couldn't recall ever having seen either of her parents so carefree. They had always seemed content with their work, and they always had good times as a family, but since her acceptance to Hogwarts, things had been different. Not really bad, but not the same as they had been. Tension had grown up around them as the years went on, becoming more and more tangible with each passing train ride. There had been times when Hermione thought it might just suffocate her if she got too close, so she hadn't and as a result her family had begun to drift apart. Her mother stayed at home more, her father worked longer hours, and when she hadn't been studying or staying with the Weasley's and later the Order, Hermione had been off doing her own thing.

'_What I wouldn't give to have my Time-Turner back,_' she thought wistfully. But what would she change? What could she change?

"Nothing." Hermione said aloud as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth. Realization hit her like a kick to the stomach. Even if there was some slim chance to change things, she wouldn't. She had told herself that erasing her parent's memories of her was for their protection, to keep them safe from the war she was fighting and from the Death Eaters that would have thought little of using them as a means to get to her. In truth, she realized as she watched them from afar, she had really been protecting herself as much as she had been protecting them, and for vastly different reasons.

She had sensed an end coming, and it had frightened her. Removing herself from the picture had been the only way for her to maintain her own mental image of what her family was. Without her, without her magic, without the constant worry of whether or not they should allow her to continue going to Hogwarts and the discomfort at being made to interact with a world that was never meant for them, they were better off. They were less stressed, less tense, and clearly happier. As much as it hurt for Hermione to admit it, even to herself, her parents were simply better together without her and in the end she only wanted them to be happy. She could live with the pain of knowing what she had lost, but she didn't think she could live with knowing that she had destroyed their second chance at having the life they deserved.

She pulled several notes from her little beaded purse, set them under the edge of her untouched latte and stood. Without another glace, she made her way to the exit of the café. Rummaging about in her purse for the international portkey that would take her back to England and away from the pain, she failed to see the people in front of her until it was too late.

It took her a moment to realize that she had fallen. Her purse was a few feet away, thankfully not having spilled any of its contents about for everyone to see. She reached over to grab it and looked up. The apology she had ready died on her lips as her eyes locked with what must have been a mirror.

'_No,_' she thought, '_not a mirror._'

"I'm so sorry, Miss. I called out to you, but you seemed like you were somewhere else. Are you alright?"

That voice, the voice that had comforted her when she was a toddler and afraid of the dark and the monsters under her bed, the voice that had radiated with pride at her achievements and sympathy for her failures, now held the concern of one stranger for another. Hermione felt tears prickle in her eyes as she fought against the tightness in her chest. She forced a smile as she took the hand he offered to help her up.

"Thank you. I'm fine. I'm sorry." Her words were robotic and she wished she could have filled them with every emotion she couldn't express to the people that couldn't remember having created and raised her. With every ounce of Gryffindor courage she possessed and the strength of a war hero, Hermione walked away from the two people that she loved most in the world. Without looking back, she slipped into an alleyway as she activated her portkey, the now familiar tug behind her naval whisking her towards home.

**Author's Note**

**This was written for the Family Reunion Challenge by OCDdegrassi on the HPFC forum. I hope it was a good read. Please be kind enough to review, even if it's just to criticize. Feedback is always welcome.**

**Thank you.**

**~Beltayne**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and I'm making no money from this, although it would be amazing if I did. Anything you may recognize belongs to the wonderful J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. **


End file.
